


A Leg to Stand On

by MyNameIsMarkus



Category: SMG4, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amputation, Christmas, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Ghosts, Guardian Angels, Hospitalization, Mutilation, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Snowball Fight, Snowman, Spirits, Wheelchairs, yes somehow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:49:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28247199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyNameIsMarkus/pseuds/MyNameIsMarkus
Summary: Meggy's living her best life; she's moved into her own place, she's got steady work, she won Splatfest and avenged Desti, and managed to start speaking English. She can leave her Inkling life behind and move forward. Or...she would. But when a nasty remnant of her past mutilates her in a pretty big way, it feels like the world has abandoned her once more. It's up to Tari, Saiko and a mysterious traveller to restore her spirit despite these new challenges.
Kudos: 4





	1. Remnants of the Past

**Author's Note:**

> DeviantART Link - https://www.deviantart.com/masterperrymartin/art/A-Leg-to-Stand-on-Part-1-Christmas-2020-864620129

The room was dark. And spinning. That probably wasn’t supposed to happen.

Meggy groaned as she came to. Every brain cell in her head ached and pounded, her lips dry, her eyes unfocused. Her usually brilliant orange hair, falling like a waterfall of honey, was frazzled and sticky with...something. It had an iron-y scent. Blood. Oh, right, she had that now. Ever since becoming human. Winning the Splatfest and all. Heh, that was fun. She looked around. the room was dark, barely lit, with stock sitting around. She was tied to a chair, hands bound behind her. At least she wasn’t gagged, that was something. Nevertheless, she panicked a little, struggling in her chair. The creak of wood and rope filled the room, followed swiftly by some footsteps.

“You’re awake,” came a voice practically dripping with venom, “Finally. You skinbags sleep in by nature or something?”

“Huh?” Meggy mumbled in her hazy state, “Who...who’s there?”

“Oh, just a nobody...” the being could vaguely be seen in the dim yellow light, the single one providing illumination to the room. They stepped forward, into the light properly, “According to your boss.”

It was an Inkling. Pale skin, dark cyan tentacles sloped down the side of his head. Dressed in a camo hoodie, shorts and green and black boots. Gold coloured Aviators dressed on his face, obscuring his eyes. A sneer spread on his lips. Meggy’s jaw dropped, “Ain’t you one of the Killer Inks?”

“The name’s Shades. And not anymore...” the Inkling sighed sourly, “Well, thanks to you. And that man of memes.”

“Still bitter about losing Splatfest, huh?” Meggy challenged, a wild smirk across her face, “Maybe if you-AAAH!”

Meggy recoiled in pain as Shades gave a hefty smack to her right cheek. She groaned in protest and pain, a red mark on her cheek at the point of impact.“Splatfest? Losing that was just the beginning,” Shades snarled, holding the offending hand. “How about losing Splatfest, getting blamed and attacked by your team leader to cover up her own useless skills?”

“I mean, she DID kick you in the-”

“Quiet!” another slap, this one harder, causing Meggy’s head to spin for a little while. Shades continued as she sat there spiralling; “There is more to it, of course. While that leader of ours fought for the garish trophy, I fought to protect our culture from the likes of you. I was not going to let some disgusting human waltz in and appropriate our culture! To steal it from us! And yet...you did. The final showing of our way of life and now it belongs to those we hate. Do you have...any idea how that feels?”

“...Nope.”

“Then you will,” Shades stared defiantly, “I’ve been meaning to get you down here for a long, long time...”

Meggy looked around the room. Pipes littered the ceiling wherever she looked, “Where are we, anyway?”

“Deepsea Sewers. No way those friends of yours will find you down here. Shame. I’d love for them to hear you scream.”

“Ha! I’ve suffered worse than anything you could throw my way,” Meggy boasted. her spirit slowly filling as she riled herself up against the Inkling and his bored expression, “Just ask Francis. The guy who kidnapped all of you and tortured you for ink? Oh wait you can’t, as my best friends kicked his ass! So there!”

“Ahh, yes. The guy who murdered my siblings and friends...” Shades readjusted his glasses, “Well, you’re gonna join him a in a minute, you slimy harlot. But FIRST,” he snapped out of nowhere, before turning around and walking to the back of the room. He began to rummage around in the debris, “I wanna have some fun. I read up on human biology and it is fascinating. Human limbs, especially. Made of flesh and bone, can’t twist like ours, quite fragile in the grand scheme of things. And they don’t. Grow. Back...” with a rustle of metal, he pulled something out of the rubble - something red and lined with teeth, “So, I think you can see where this is going.”

The contraption caught the light - it was a bright red chainsaw. “...Oh no,” Meggy wailed as Shades pulled on the starter motor, drowned out once it began to roar to life, “No! No no NO!”

“Yes!” Shades yelled over the dull whirr of the blades, “You deserve this, Spletzer, for the culture you ruined with your greed. NOW SCREAM FOR ME!!!”

And as the roaring blade was pressed into her leg, Meggy did. Long through the night.

===

Meggy awoke again some time later. Not like she could tell. Everything hurt with a special sort of stinging pain. Her eyes were blurry and bloodshot, her vision rung in her ears and there was a dizzy, spiralling sensation in her head. Like she was only barely there, waiting to tumble into nothingness. Nothing dulled the agony in her lower body, however, her legs stinging like no pain she had ever felt before.

“Ah, you’re awake!” came a distant, echo-y Shades somewhere in front of her, “You’ve been out of it for some time,” he chuckled, “Don’t worry, I’ve helped keep the bleeding going without killing you. I wanna see you suffer for as long as possible...” Meggy tried to say something, but nothing came out but garbled hums and twisted cries. Shades tapped her on the head, “Hmm. High on pain, are we? Don’t worry. You’ll come around soon...”

As he glared deviously at her, a wretched flash and rumble struck the building. Meggy winced in pain, the bright light only adding to her sickness. Debris was raining from the ceiling now, alongside an unhappy Shades. Something was attacking his little base. Enraged, he grabbed the chainsaw, now far redder than Meggy’s bleary memory remembered it, and rushed to the door to this little room. It swung open before he could reach for the starter pully, blown to the floor by the attack. Even in her barely readable vision, Meggy could see familiar faces! Tari! Mario! ...Shroomy? Even Saiko leading the charge! They were here to rescue her! In front of all of them was a strange figure, a brown blob of something, Meggy couldn’t tell in this state. He wrestled with Shades for a bit, batting his hand away from the pulley, before managing to wrest the chainsaw from his hands and swinging with all of his might. The unpowered chainsaw still dragged through his torso, maiming it and flooring him as he rolled and screamed in pain. As the others looked on, the figure pulled something out of his pocket and two large booms were heard, then silence as something cyan dripped across the floor.

“Fucking Inklings,” the figure growled, his voice deep and animalistic. He turned to look at Meggy, and what readable expression she could see on him shifted dramatically, “...Jeez. Oi, she’s over here!”

Meggy could only barely see others pour into view, Tari the clearest among them. She crouched by her and pranced about frantically about her body, her face showing signs of despair, “OH NO!” she wailed, “OH MEGGY NO!”

[What did that freak do to her?!] Saiko sputtered angrily, looking over Meggy as well, [We gotta stop this bleeding!]

Mario was next, his eyes crawling in opposite directions, as they were wont to do. He placed his hand to his chin, thinking as hard as he could...which wasn’t a whole lot, admittedly.

“Hmm...ooh!” suddenly, his expression changed to one of surprise. He took something out of his pocket...a small, beige plaster, sticking it to somewhere on Meggy’s leg. It stung, keeping Meggy awake a little longer, but little else. He shrugged, self-satisfied, “...All done!”

Saiko was...less than amused, grabbing Mario by his overalls, [A band-aid?! MARIO NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO GO FULL DIPSHIT!!!]

“Hmm. You, mushroom...scout, thing,” the figure said, turning to the Mushroom scout, “You have some medical training, right?”

“Well golly gee, I do!” Shroomy boasted proudly. He stepped forward to the hypothetical plate, “Alright fellas, I know what to do here, let’s see...right, here we go!”

“Wait where did you get the iron from?!”

“Make her bite on this here stick, thank you...” Meggy vaguely felt something wooden being shoved between her teeth, “And...”

Then just...pain. Searing, white hot pain. Meggy screamed, her wails muffled by the stick, as her jaw bit down hard upon it. Her vision blurred and tears streamed from her eyes. The hissing sound stopped and she flopped back in the chair. She was sobbing now, her vision blurry and on the verge of blackness.

“SHROOMY!” Tari screamed, “WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!”

“Cauterisation, you know?” Shroomy said, “That’ll help!”

“It’ll give us time,” the figure growled again, “Saiko, give me a hand, we need to get her outta here!”

[YOU THINK?!]

Meggy was close to blacking out, finally. She felt herself being lifted up and carried out of the room. The extreme pain was dulling, but so was every other sense. She could see bright white ceiling lights, nearly blinding her already messy vision.

“It’s okay, Meggy!” Tari pleaded before Meggy mercifully slipped into unconsciousness, “Everything’s gonna be fine!”

===

Beeping sounds. Murmurs and talking, softened into indefinableness by...something. A bright light flashed into Meggy’s eyes as she awakened once more. She felt no more pain, in fact she felt nothing at all, outside of a dulled ache in her head. She looked around somewhat; she was in a hospital room. White walls, white floors, white beds with white covers that she was currently under. White everything. To her left, and IV hooked up to her arm, feeding...something into her, and a table with get-well cards and a bowl of made up noodles. Chicken. Her favourite.

“Mmmh...” she groaned, holding her forehead and grimacing, “My head...”

Her stirring caught the attention of another in the room. It was SMG4! He hopped to his stubby legs and opened the door to the room, shouting beyond it, “Guys! She’s awake!”

“Awake? Where am I...?” Meggy mumbled deliriously, “What...happened?”

The rest of the crowd flooded into the room; Saiko, Tari, Mario, Axol, even Shroomy. “MEGGY!” Mario cried in happiness, getting close and gyrating in place, as he was wont to do, “Mario’s a-so happy you’re okay!”

“We’re all happy,” Tari sighed, “We came real close to losing you back there...”

[I knew it was a bad idea to go back to that stupid city!] Saiko said, angrily and bitterly, [Ain’t goin’ back again...after uh, all that.]

“What’re you talking about?” Meggy asked, looking at the despondent faces on everyone in the room. Axol especially had a guilty look on his scarred face.

Tari’s expression somehow dropped further when the realisation, “She can’t feel it...”

“...Beanie Human Girl?” Axol asked shamefully, “You might want to look down...just, brace yourself.”

Meggy had no idea what he was talking about. She looked perfectly fine above the covers. What was wrong? Even if she did feel nothing under her waist. But then, she just assumed they were asleep, right? ...Right? A sense of dread welled up within her. All of a sudden, all of the memories of that room came back, in as perfect a clarity as she could remember them. Her heartbeat raced as she tried to calm herself. No. No, it wasn’t possible. It was just a bad dream! She threw the covers off. And all of her fears came true.

Meggy’s legs were gone.

Well, sort of gone. Her thighs were still there, and continued down to about the knee...but then they stopped. Just gauze and bandages and pretty severe burns around where her knees SHOULD have been, but weren’t. Her heartbeat kicked itself into Omega Overdrive.

“AAAAAAH!!!” Meggy screamed loudly and fearfully, “MY LEGS! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LEGS?!”

“We don’t know!” Tari pleaded, tears in her eyes, “We found you like this in that lunatic’s lair!”

“...Shades,” the realisation dawned on Meggy, “W-Where is he?”

[Our new friend blew his head off,] Saiko seethed, [As he deserves.]

“HE DESERVES SO MUCH MORE FOR THIS!!!” Meggy screamed as emotion over came her, “Oh God...what’m I gonna do?”

“That’s fairly simple,” came that voice again, as the figure stepped into the room, “You recover. You spend your time to grieve, of course, but then you get up and you keep going. I’ve seen it happen before.”

The figure was...weird. Tall. Sort of a hedgehog...thing. Brown, spiky and unkempt fur. Dressed in a blue jacket, black trousers, tall combat boots and fingerless gloves. A red beanie stretched across his head, and a big red woollen scarf wrapped around his muzzle and part of his torso.

Tari was confused, “...Wait who even are you?”

“They call me Traveller,” the figure said, nodding politely and waving his hand, “Just passin’ through, you know?” a brief pause, then he sighed, “Well, that and tracking down people like that Inkling. Or, whatever was left of him, anyway. It’s complicated.”

[...We have literally never heard of you.]

This caused Traveller to jump and stutter, scratching the back of his head, “OH, uh, I was introduced in one of the arcs. The...Smiler Arc, I think?”

A pause as people stared at him, looks ranging from confusion to disbelief. And suddenly, with a flash of red and blue, “...Makes sense to me!”

“Guys!” Tari called out, gesturing towards the forgotten-feeling Squid-ish Kid before them, “Kind of forgetting the afflicted here?”

“Oh, right...” Mario sighed. It wasn’t often he was this...lucid. But when Meggy was hurt, it felt like he was able to wrangle his three braincells into action. Just for long enough. He turned to the girl, grovelling and sniffling, “Meggy...Mario wanna help...”

“I know, Red. But...” Meggy whimpered, looking down at the stumps. All the ramifications came flooding in and once, and tears welled up in her eyes, “...Look at me. What can I do now? These won’t grow back. When I was still an Inkling, I never thought I’d lose them. I mean, Red loses his head all the time, why doesn’t...” she stopped, her breath ragged and choked with sobs. No-one dared to speak or act for a while, as she worked out her grievances. She hugged herself, shivering horrifically despite it being warm inside the room.

“Beanie...M-Meggy?” Axol finally broke the silence, “Would you like us to give you some time?”

A pause. And then, “...Yes please.”

The others nodded respectfully as they exited the room. Tari stayed by the closed door for just a little longer, hearing in now all was gone. She caught only a few seconds of pained sobbing before she tore herself away from the door to go and cry herself.

===

An hour passed. It was getting dark now, the events of the day from rescuing Meggy to leaving her alone in her hospital room having taken its time and quite a bit of its toll on the group. Many were tired or sadly had other duties elsewhere, and left the hospital some time before. Even SMG4 had to take his leave eventually. Making memes was less important than Meggy’s well-being, but it was still his job. That left only four people; Saiko, Tari, Mario and that Traveller guy. The girls and the creature were sitting around in the hospital cafeteria, slowly sipping on some truly awful warmed sludge pretending to be coffee.

[So, let me get this straight...] Saiko started, placing her cup of sediment down, [You’re some kind of...vigilante. And crazy.]

“FORMERLY. Crazy,” Traveller gestured to make his point, a sort of annoyed tint to his tone, “Big difference. Look, here’s the skinny; out in the multiverse are these things called Warmongers, right? I didn’t come up with the name...though, I was one of the first. They occur when your soul breaks under moments of extreme stress. Corrupts you. Makes you a slave to this...thing. This mockery of who I was. So that’s fun.”

[Sound like my kinda people,] Saiko chuckled, [So what, you saying that inkbag was one too?]

“Yes,” Traveller nodded, calmer now. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a smartphone, pressing a few things on its touchscreen before sliding it across the table to Saiko’s view, “Couldn’t see from when we were down there, but security footage...well.”

The phone was playing security footage. It was Inkopolis Plaza, late at night. It was devoid of people, barring two in the corner. It was Shades, dragging a bound and unconscious Meggy across the cold pavement towards the base he had found for his little purpose. It made Saiko’s blood boil to see him roughly pull an already bruised Meggy across the ground, knowing now what he would do later. He hit a raised bump of pavement and dropped his sunglasses to the floor. He picked them up, before glaring at the security camera. It was near enough to capture his death glare; to Saiko’s surprise, his eyes were pitch black, with red pupils. He snarled, before putting on his shades and continuing his duties.

[Jeez...] Saiko grumbled, looking at the footage. There was an angered, bitter look on her face, [They took losing that Splatfest...thing, poorly. Freakin’ ink sacs think they rule the goddamn world...I should burn their stupid little city to the ground for what they did to MY friends!]

“I wish I could do the same...” Traveller sighed, staring down at his phone before taking it back and turning it off, “But, I can’t go down that route. Not again...” there was a pause, before he turned to Tari. She had been silent the entire time, sipping her coffee and playing with a rubber duck. He cleared his throat, “Hey, uh...Tari, is it? You’re awfully quiet.”

“Sorry, it’s just...Meggy,” Tari sighed.

“I know, shocking business,” Traveller nodded solemnly, “But, that’s where you all are now. It’s not like she can magically grow them back.”

[Why?] Saiko asked. Well, sort of demanded, [That fat plumber’s head comes off every week, why is he okay?!]

“Because not everyone dares to be as realistic and miserable as this narrative,” Traveller mumbled wearily, staring at some unknown figure off in space somewhere, “Some people refuse to play along with reality.”

Tari was shocked to hear that, “...It’s that easy?”

Traveller tapped his nose and chuckled, “You’d be surprised.”

“WELL I’m not going to just sit around and mope!” Tari slammed on the table, spent a few seconds nursing her bruised hand, before getting up out of her seat, “She’s my friend, and I’m going to help her through this! I didn’t leave her side when she missed Desti, I WON’T now!”

[Hell yeah, sister!] Saiko fist-pumped, a new spark in her eyes, [We’re gonna help her get over this, even if it kills me! And it won’t, of course.]

“Sounds like fun. I guess,” Traveller shrugged, slowly getting out of his seat, “I wish good luck to the both of you.”

“You not going to stick around?”

“I’m a traveller,” he shrugged, “It’s...well it’s not even in the name as much as it IS the name. I don’t stick around long. Unless...you want me to.”

[It’d make sense for her to get help from the guy who saved her life,] Saiko said, before pulling an aside, [Besides, we don’t have a lot of...competent people in this little group.]

“Explain.”

Saiko pointed to the back of the cafeteria. For the entirety of their conversation, Mario had been desperately trying to get a stuck chocolate bar out of the vending machine; crowbars, punches, shouting...humping? Finally, enraged, he stomped to the other end of the room. And then, with a battle cry, sprinted towards the vending machine.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-” CRASH! Mario threw himself at the machine, ragdolling upon impact and splashing to the floor in a bruised state. The machine barely moved. Traveller could just vaguely hear, muffled against denim, “...Mama-F*CKER!”

Traveller’s expression, what little could be seen, was one of a sort of mutant amusement, “...Good explanation. Alright, I’m in. Always wanted to heal instead of hurt anyhow.”

“Alright!” Tari cheered, “Meggy’s gonna be so happy when we get her back on her fe-” She stopped, catching herself at the last minute. She chuckled warily, “U-Uh...y-you know what I mean. A-Anyway! Let’s do this!” 


	2. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DeviantART Link - https://www.deviantart.com/masterperrymartin/art/A-Leg-to-Stand-on-Part-2-Christmas-2020-864634858

Tari smiled as a snowflake fell onto her dainty nose and melted. It was Winter in the Mushroom Kingdom, and the Mushroom Kingdom was already happy to get into the festivities of this time of year. Already, the city streets were decked out in Christmas trimmings; red and white tinsel dangling from the streetlights across the roads, golden bells wrapped in green shrubbery and plastic red berries lining every doorway. It was snowing, hence the snowflake, and the pavements were covered in that wonderful crunchy white sheen. This was fresh snow, before it...devolved, into black ice and compacted pure slippery-ness, so they had time to play in it.  
  
And that was great, Tari thought. It would be just what Meggy needed to get back on track.  
  
She looked back from the hospital parking lot to see her being wheeled out by Saiko. She was dressed in puffier, warmer clothing; a puffy jacket, thicker beanie, scarf and a blanket draped across what remained of her legs. Her expression was still quite...pained, but at least she was sort of smiling now. It was a broken smile, but hey it was a start. They had talked in the hospital room, during the couple of days until she was cleared to go.  
  
===  
  
She remembered it well, being as it was only two days previous. She and Saiko and that Traveller guy had waltzed into her room, the day after her awakening. Her mood had not improved. She had barely touched her food (unsurprisingly, Traveller chuckled) and her face was stained with tears. It broke Tari’s heart to see her like this; last time she was this messed up, it was when she was grieving for Desti. It didn’t really leave until she won Splatfest...and kicked all this off.  
  
Hmm. Bad memory.  
  
“Hey Meggy...” Tari said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, “How’re you...how’re you feeling?”  
  
“...Like shit,” Meggy sighed.  
  
“Understandable,” Traveller said stoically, “There will always be a grieving process upon losing a limb. Not many are equipped to handle the stress.”  
  
[Dude,] Saiko growled, her expression one of indignation, [If this is gonna work, you gotta have some damn class.]  
  
“Right, of course,” Traveller said, “Apologies.”  
  
“It’s okay...” Meggy sighed again, “I’m kinda used to being talked down to. Desti, Francis, those Killer Ink types...”  
  
[Yeah well fuck ‘em,] Saiko crossed her arms and scowled, [We don’t need them, they are BENEATH you.]  
  
“Not after the change in height,” Meggy sobbed bitterly.  
  
“Meggy!” Tari exclaimed in shock, “Oh my...I’m sorry this happened...l-look, we want to help. I-In any way possible.”  
  
“We want to make you more...comfortable, with this life change,” Traveller said, his tone slowly shifting to something a tad more careful, “It isn’t the end of the road, Miss Spletzer. Just, a change of tracks.”  
  
“Yeah!” Tari cheered, “We’re gonna get you back on top and feeling like a new woomy before you can say ‘Sir Duckington!’”  
  
[And we KNOW you can say that pretty fast,] Saiko chuckled.  
  
“Thanks guys...” Meggy sighed, “But it’s gonna take a lot of work to fix this hole. Like...how do you even handle this sort of thing?!”  
  
“I may be of some assistance on that front,” Traveller said, “Let’s just say I’m very...experienced with dealing with grief and lost limbs. Well, the same limb. Multiple times.”  
  
“Hooray,” Meggy grumbled, “What’re you even doing here? You got that guy, didn’t you?”  
  
“Well I need the others’ heads on a pike now, don’t I? Like a really gruesome kebab,” he chuckled, before clearing his throat, “To be real, though. I’ve done a lot of travelling. A lot of...bad things, to all sorts of people. Settling down for a bit, doing some good. Might do me some good too. I need to get back in touch with my old, jokier self.”  
  
“Well...I guess I appreciate it,” Meggy said, “Doc said I’ll be good to leave in a day or so.”  
  
“Then we’ll take you out for a fun day on the town!” Tari said, “Get some snacks, some noodles, play in the snow! Like we did a couple years ago. When you didn’t know what Christmas was.”  
  
[...Wait what?]  
  
“It’s a long story,” Meggy giggled, “...Alright. I’m in.”  
  
===  
  
“Oi, Tari!” Traveller’s voice cut through the flashback, “You growing some icicles on your nose or something?”  
  
“Oh!” Tari yelped, before quickly bounding back to the group, “Sorry. Was kind of...having a flashback.”  
  
Tari pulled a light blue beanie out of her jacket and stretched it across her head; it fit with her zip-up shirt and scarf perfectly. They asked Meggy what she wanted to do first. Her response was short and sweet; a walk. Well. not a walk for her, but a little milling around the city for a bit. To take in the sights and the sounds. The others nodded in agreement and began to walk around the square, Traveller eyeing Saiko curiously the entire time.  
  
[...Something take your fancy back there?]  
  
“It’s just...how the hell are you not freezing cold right now? Not even a beanie or a scarf!”  
  
[Burning hatred for Inklings kinda goes a long way, you know?]  
  
“True.”  
  
It was 11:30 by the time they got to the main parts of the city. It was a beautiful snow day. Not too sunny, so the snow wouldn’t melt, but not too windy, so SMG4 wouldn’t have to thaw them out later. Meggy remembered the LAST time he had to do that. It was when Mario decided, in his finite wisdom, to kick a baby penguin. Then the mother penguin dressed Meggy up as a penguin and threatened to give her...”dinner”, then she was a snowboard, then they were on a freezing lake...blurry memories at best. Maybe she just didn’t want to remember. She still wasn’t sure if SMG4 had deleted the photos he took. He SAID he did.  
  
...Gah, where was she going with this? Ah, yes, the city. The streets were paved with snow and a bit of salt, the same tinsel and bells hung across the narrow streets, and the shops were draped in gold and red. The sound of a band playing Christmas music was in the background. The streets were stuffed with people still shopping for presents, gifts or just a bratwurst. Humans, minions of Bowser’s, even some Inklings. But...nowhere near as much as there used to be. No-one expected human-Inkling relations to just...dissolve, after Splatfest. They weren’t welcome here anymore. At least they let some in, she supposed.  
  
Suddenly, a crash! The group stopped and looked towards the source of the crash. It was that plumber fellow again. He was running, his posture rigid, one of those new consoles in his hands. He was screaming, “YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE! AAAAAAA-” while running off. He was chased by a security guard...with a monitor for a head? Traveller stared dumbfounded at the sight. He had been all across the worlds. He had seen worlds made of sweets or under oppression from a personified concept of order. But this? This was something else.  
  
“There is something wrong with that plumber,” Traveller muttered under his breath.  
  
“Forgive Mario,” Meggy said, “He can be a little...out there, but he’s a good friend. Sometimes.”  
  
[Guy’s a freakin’ nutjob,] Saiko grumbled, [...But he’s good company, yeah,] she continued to push Meggy along the street, [I just hope we don’t run into that terrible twosome.]  
  
“What, Bob and Boopkins?” Tari asked, “Aww come on, they’re nice people.”  
  
[Bob? Nice person?] Saiko sputtered, [He’s this whirling mass of blades and douchebaggery. He sees Megs like this, out come the tasteless jokes and selfish begging.]  
  
“A wisecracking blade or so?” Traveller mused, “I know a guy like that.”  
  
“ _Yeah and you ain’t used him for over two years,_ ” came a muffled voice from within his pocket.  
  
“Shut it, you’re not in this story!” Traveller growled to his pocket, before he turned to the girls, “Sorry. I’ll explain later.”  
  
Meggy looked around at the world. She was in good company, it was a beautiful day, the world was red and gold. It was Christmas. All was well. But...she couldn’t stop crying. Tears wouldn’t stop leaking from her eyes. How could she forget? How could she just dismiss what happened to her? Reminders were EVERYWHERE. Dancers in the streets. Children jumping up and down in icy puddles. Shoe shops on every corner. She could see them. Her most wanted Christmas present of the year. A brand new pair of boots. Similar to her old ones, but a darker shade. Black soles and laces, a pattern running down the sides. They were in the window, lit by ringed lights.  
  
“G-Guys...” she sobbed. The others turned to her, before they turned to the shoe shop in question. They realised with horror they had parked her too close to it.  
  
Traveller knelt down by her, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Just breathe slowly. In, then out. In. Out. Nice and slow.”  
  
“I’m sorry...” Meggy cried, “I’m just so...useless without my legs!”  
  
“Meggy don’t say that!” Tari cried too, “It...i-it’s just shock talking. We’re gonna be here for you every step of the way.”  
  
“...Okay,” she whimpered, “Please...g-get me out of here.”  
  
[Right...right...] Saiko sighed, pushing Meggy away from the shop. She would never, ever, EVER admit it, but...Meggy was a true friend. Like Tari. And it tore her up inside to see the usually peppy, energetic Meggy - the kind to merrily throw out roundhouse kicks and uppercuts to defeat the bad guy of the day - so distraught. She had to fight the bubbling, burning hatred of Inklings. Now was not the time for that. Later, perhaps. But not now. She had to get her out of here and help cheer her up. She had an idea.  
  
===  
  
The city centre wasn’t working out, it seemed. So the trio came up with a new idea. The cul-de-sac. One of the areas with less people out and about. They’d be nice and alone to do whatever they wanted to. No shoe shops. No Bob. No...whatever Mario’s latest scheme was. Well, apart from steal a new console. Just them, probably a snowman or two, total peace and quiet. They stopped by a coffee shop first. Got some drinks. They were all used to drinking powerful coffee, for varying reasons. Traveller just got some tea, with perhaps a few too many sugars for the tastes of the others. It was a quiet affair, Tari and Traveller discussing all sorts of things, while Meggy was content to sit there, drinking her coffee. She dared not look down, looking anywhere but there, sometimes to Saiko. She was staring out of the window, so Meggy did too. She smiled, ever so slightly - she really did have some good friends.  
  
Coffee over and done with, the group walked to the cul-de-sac. A nice place at the top of a steep hill, nice wide patch of grass covered in snow. Some children playing here and there, nothing too busy. It was perfect. They wheeled Meggy to the middle, and she got it; no people, no distractions. Just a bunch of snow. A natural canvas. They asked her what she would like to do.  
  
Her response was brief and certain; she wanted to build a snowman. The others nodded in agreement and went about gathering the snow. Tari wheeled Meggy across the snow while she bent forward to roll the snow into a ball. Tari...wasn’t exactly strong enough to push the thing easily, never mind when it was resisted by the snow, so she was having a difficult time. But she kept going, if it made Meggy happy. Soon enough, the bottom part was done, and Saiko took to pushing the body part, while Traveller rolled up the head and went off to fetch some vegetation for the face. No coal, modern sensibilities would probably frown on that, so he ran off to grab some brussel sprouts. They were like coal. About on the same scale of edibleness, at least. A carrot and some loose pebbles for the smile, that’d do. He arrived just to see the torso completed, with branch arms and all. Traveller attached the head and put on the face. They stopped. No top hat, and no-one wanted to give up their beanies. They ummed and erred for some time, until Tari suddenly lit up and dug into her pockets; out came...a rubber duck? A befuddled Traveller looked on as Tari placed the duck on top of the snowman’s head. Then, they all stood back, marvelling at their creation.  
  
“What a wonderful looking snowman!” Tari said happily, “The rubber duck really ties it all together, you think?” she got a chuckle out of Traveller and a sincere giggle out of Meggy. Her heart warmed and her smile widened as she tussled the beanie girl’s hair, “See, I got a giggle out of you! Alright Meggy, what do you want to do next?”  
  
“I wanna...hmm,” Meggy thought deep and hard for a few seconds, “Ooh! Snowball fight!”  
  
“A snow scuffle, huh?” Traveller smarmed, “Alright, I’m down. Me and Meggs, up against you and Tari. I push, she shoots.”  
  
“This is gonna be fun!” Tari cheered.  
  
[You better watch out, punk,] Saiko smirked, rearing up her arm, [I’ve got a mean right hook.]  
  
“And I have a game-trained aimbot arm!” Tari backed up. She stopped, looking down at the limb, “...Wait.”  
  
“Well that’s nice, ladies,” Traveller said, digging something out of his pocket, “But I have something custom-built for the job...” with a hefty tug, he pulled it out. It was a sort of rifle, white in colour, with a large tank at the back and a large muzzle. It almost looked like a giant Splattershot, actually, “Give a warm...well, cold welcome to the Mark 90 ‘Snowstorm’. A fully automatic snowball launcher, developed for the military.”  
  
[WHO THE HELL MAKES A FULLY AUTO SNOWBALL LAUNCHER FOR THE MILITARY?!]  
  
“You...would be surprised what they have to fight in some timelines,” Traveller shrugged. He removed the tank and plunged it into a deep pile of snow. When he brought it out, it was full, to which he then attached to the gun. He handed it to Meggy, “There, should be good for eighty-two shots. Right, ready Meggs?”  
  
Meggy pumped the launcher’s pump, “You bet!”  
  
Tari suddenly felt very scared, “...Oh dear.”  
  
[RUN!]  
  
The two ran like headless chickens as Meggy opened fire. A titanic flurry of snow came flying towards the two, threatening to bury them right there and then. They screamed, darting this way and that, but Meggy was a good shot and Traveller a good wheeler. The two skidded across the impromptu arena set up by making the snowman, firing snowball after snowball around the place. At least Meggy looked like she was having the time of her life.  
  
Finally, the two girls took cover in a snow trench. Snowballs roared over the pair; how many snowballs could that blasted thing hold?! Tari mimed talking into an old transceiver, “Command this is Duckworth! We’re pinned down, I repeat we’re pinned down!” she turned to Saiko, a look of fear on her face, “Saiko what do we do?!”  
  
[I just gotta get one good shot in! WOAH!] Saiko ducked further as a particularly lucky shot nearly beaned her, [But not like this. I got a plan. But you ain’t gonna like it...]  
  
“Huh? Why?” Tari asked. Saiko leaned in, whispered her plan into her ear. Tari’s expression dropped, “Oh...okay,” before she darted out of cover, limbs spread everywhere, “LOOK AT ME I’M A TARGET!”  
  
Meggy couldn’t believe her eyes, Tari was drawing fire? Well, whatever. She was gonna get snowed on all the same. Traveller chuckled grimly, before letting out a, “Get ‘er!” and wheeling Meggy after the fleeing gamer. Meggy fired the snow launcher once more, spraying snow this way and that. Tari was limber and thin enough to dodge most of the shots, stumbling through this wild goose chase with a look of fear on her face. Traveller was headfirst into this chase, now. He didn’t see Saiko spring up from cover and let a dense snowball fly.   
  
“What th-OOF!!!”  
  
It smacked into him with the force of a professional baseball. Times about a hundred. Traveller had been in all sorts of scuffles, but he had NEVER been hit like that before. The snowball was enough to send him flying, tumbling head over heels across the snow before finally landing in a crumpled heap before the snowman. He groaned, his head a whirling mess of concussion and confusion.  
  
[DIRECT HIT!] Saiko fist-pumped in victory, [Nice work, Tari!]  
  
She turned to the gamer, now caked in snow from some of the unluckier dodges. She shivered, her cheeks a flushed blue, “...I can’t feel my arm...” she shivered, before she remembered; “Oh, right.”  
  
Saiko’s celebration was short-lived, however. Another groan caught her ear. A softer groan. Her heart rose to her throat as she remembered who Traveller was pushing around. She dared not to look. And yet, she did. A few yards from Traveller was the flipped, somewhat roughed up wheelchair, resting on its side with a single wheel spinning pathetically. And only a few yards away from that, was Meggy. Lying in the snow, shivering and seemingly bruised from the tumble.  
  
[...Oh shit!] Saiko screamed, rushing over to the body and desperately getting the excess snow off of her. Her voice was shocked and alarmed, [Meggy, I’m sorry, it was an accident!]  
  
“I know...” Meggy growled, her whines soft. She lay in the snow for a little while longer; “I can’t...I can’t move...” she looked like she was going to cry. But then she...stopped. A new resolve possessed her, all of a sudden. Like she had a change of heart. A deep, determined frown buried itself onto her face, “NO...” and with a heave, she shifted herself onto her belly and began to roughly drag herself towards the wheelchair, “Gotta...get up...”  
  
Tari also saw the scene after checking on Traveller (he was fine...sort of) and rushed towards the group. She saw Meggy drag herself forward, grunting with excretion with every metaphorical step. She looked like she was struggling. Tari bent down to scoop her up, “Meggy, it’s okay. Just take it easy. I can he-”  
  
“I don’t need help!” Meggy arrogantly batted Tari’s hand away. She grabbed the wheelchair and heaved trying to flip it back up, “I won Splatfest. I became a cop. I got my own place, I survived SMG3 trying to delete us from history...”  
  
“What?” Traveller mumbled as he swayed wearily towards the group.  
  
[Long story.]  
  
“I won’t...let...this... beat me!” Meggy cried out, having flipped the chair and was now in the process of lifting herself into it, “I’m stronger...I have to be...aaah!” it was no use. Her arms just weren’t in good enough shape. She lost her grip on the freezing cold wheelchair and tumbled back onto the snowy ground. Such a humiliating defeat seemed to do in this second wind, and she screamed in pained fury, "I CAN'T LET THIS BEAT ME!”  
  
“Meggy...” Tari said softly, so softly as to almost cry herself, as she hoisted the girl into the wheelchair and dusted off the snow. She stroked Meggy’s hair, “It’s okay. You’ve done enough this year. It’s okay to cry...” Meggy took this...well. As if her friend’s reassurance was enough to knock away the last of her resolve, she devolved into heavy, heaving sobs. She tried to muffle them with her scarf, but it did little to hide the sorrow. Tari brought her in and let her cry onto her jacket while she patted her back. Tari herself began to softly cry, “It’s okay. It’s okay...”  
  
Saiko broke from the group. This was a new emotion she was feeling...guilt? Had she ever felt guilt before? She was now, and it SUCKED. She didn’t mean to send Meggy flying. She didn’t mean to derail the day. It just...happened. She stewed in her self-pity for a while, before she heard a growling, angry voice above her, “Well, that went pear-shaped fast.”  
  
Saiko looked up. It was Traveller. And he looked unhappy. Well, he ALWAYS seemed to look unhappy, but this more than any other time previous. Saiko sighed wearily but cautiously, [...My bad?]  
  
“ **YES YOUR BAD!** ” Traveller exploded with such fury to even shake Saiko a little. She could swear the tips of his limbs and spines were turning as white as the snow, only for a bit, “You trying to take my head off with that throw?! You TRYING to give her a face-full of icy slush?!”  
  
[Hey don’t step up to me, Spikes!] Saiko yelled in anger, shooting up to standing and jabbing a finger into his chest, [I didn’t think it would lead to this. I thought you’d let go!]  
  
“Well I didn’t. So now what? Hmm...” Traveller calmed, and the white tint drained from him. He assumed a sort of thinking pose for a while, before something went off in his head, “Okay. What about your other friends?”  
  
[Axol said he’d try making something with Inkweaver, once he’s repaired the damn thing...] Saiko merely crossed her arms as she explained, though her voice became tinted with a bit of embarrassed disgust; [SMG4 is making supportive memes.]  
  
“Helpful,” Traveller grumbled, looking upon the two girls still embraced. He tilted his head ever so slightly to the side, “Perhaps a new approach is needed. A slightly more drastic way of circumventing a loss of a limb. Like, a NEW limb.”  
  
[Right, and where are we gonna get a brand new...] Saiko trailed off. She looked down at Traveller, who was already pointing his gaze towards Tari. Towards her arm. Her robotic, prosthetic, better-than-the-original-in-every-single-way-arm. Saiko’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, [Holy shit, YES!]  
  
“...Get her home and details over coffee?”  
  
Saiko cracked her knuckles, [Let’s do this, spiky boy.]


	3. Guardian Angels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DeviantART Link - https://www.deviantart.com/masterperrymartin/art/A-Leg-to-Stand-on-Part-3-Christmas-2020-864634863

Meggy’s house in the Mushroom Kingdom Suburbs. Home. How long had it been since she had last been here? She had lost track of time since her kidnapping. It was...what, three days in hospital? Four? Six?! She couldn’t remember. And she wasn’t exactly in the mood to do so. There was no creak as Tari slowly opened the door. The place was brand new, and Meggy kept it meticulously clean. It was a modern style house down to the floor plans...which was really just a fancy way of saying it was mostly one big room, primarily made of wood and white paint. Traveller would normally grumble at a house like this. How they were cheaply made, and a fire hazard, and just so damn _tacky_. But not today. This was not the time.   
  
“Fancy place...” Traveller said, faking the amusement in his voice, “Nice catch for someone living alone. Paid for with Splatfest money, huh?”  
  
“I wish...” Meggy sighed despondently, “Even for their doomed ecosystem the prize money was a large amount of cash...but the conversion rates from Inkling Coin to Mushroom Kingdom Coin was...well.”  
  
[Three Thousand IC to ONE MCC,] Saiko sounded off, borderline offended, [Talk about one final fuck you from those guys.]  
  
“SMG4 pays for it now...” Tari sighs.  
  
Traveller nodded respectfully, “Well, he seems to be a good enough man. Even if he had to deal with those hedonistic little-”  
  
“Guys?” Tari asked, exasperated, “Can we PLEASE stop talking about that?” she sighed, “Don’t forget Meggy used to be one of them...what if you heard all this about your kind?”  
  
“...I do,” Traveller sighed, “And I’m sorry, Meggy.”  
  
“It’s okay...” Meggy mumbled softly, “They don’t want me either. Just...take me to bed. It’s kinda dark out there now.”  
  
Tari looked out of the window. It was indeed getting dark. It wasn’t even that late, but then Tari assumed Meggy just didn’t feel like tackling the rest of the day. Not after being thrown from her chair. She sighed, “Are you sure you’ll be okay without us?”  
  
Meggy nodded faintly, “Yeah...”  
  
“Okay...if you say so. We’re a phone call away if you ever need us. You wanna play some video games, I’m your gal! Heh heh...”  
  
“I know...” Meggy looked up and nodded. Her expression was soft and broken, her voice a timid whisper, “Thank you.”  
  
[It’s what friends are for, Meggs. I think,] Saiko smiled, but it looked...forced, [Now get some rest. Let’s see how things are in the morning.]  
  
“Yeah...yeah...” Meggy sighed. The group wheeled Meggy upstairs. Not the soundest plan, but it’s what she asked for. She’d have access to water and a bathroom, so she’d be fine until the morning. They wheeled her to her bed. Meggy didn’t even bother to get undressed beyond removing her head accessories, not like she had any boots to remove now. She flopped in bed, and after a few sniffles, began to drift off into sleep. The others closed the door and slowly tiptoed out of the house, though not before Tari placed a blanket on Meggy’s sleeping form.  
  
The air outside was crisp and cold. Tari could see her breath as she sighed gravely, “Okay...now what?”  
  
Traveller nodded, “Plan C-RA.”  
  
“Plan C-RA?”  
  
[Plan Coffee and Robot Arm.]  
  
===  
  
The coffee shop was a nice one. Fairly understated, not much to say about it. Wood floors, large seats, overpriced coffee in cardboard cups, just your average coffee shop. Even had that coffee smell to it, one wafting into Tari’s nostrils as Saiko and Traveller discussed their plan over a round of caramel lattes. Tari was ecstatic, “Yes, of course! Prosthetic robot arm! ...Kinda kicking myself I didn’t think of it before. It’s...well it’s ON me.”  
  
“Looking after the wounded is generally higher priority,” Traveller noted, somehow drinking his coffee through his scarf. It was certainly nicer than the stuff in the hospital, that was for sure. He cleared his throat, “Never mind emotional states often clouding logical reasoning.”  
  
[Oh, so THAT’S why you don’t have emotions!] Saiko snarked, giving him a nudge.  
  
“Stop iiiiiiit,” Traveller said somewhat sarcastically. Saiko simply chuckled before sipping her coffee. Traveller sighed and chuckled himself, “...Heh, okay. Walked into that one. Still, that does seem to be the idea of the century. Get her some robotic legs. Preferably similar to that robotic arm. That thing’s a marvel of technology all on its own! Who made it? Where did you get it?”  
  
“That’s...um...that’s the issue,” Tari twiddled nervously with her cup, “I don’t know. All I remember is waking up in a room. Some sort of...surgery room. With my old arm lying in a cooler box and this one attached. The logo was scratched out when we were attacked by the T-Pose Zombies!”  
  
Traveller’s confused as hell expression returned, “...What the fuck even is this place?!”  
  
[I ask myself that a lot,] Saiko rested her head in her hands, [Just go with it, trust me. So, that’s a bust.]  
  
“Mmm,” Traveller looked forward and gestured with his cup, “Unless someone you know is smart enough to reverse-engineer it.”  
  
There was a brief silence as the three racked their brains for people capable of such a feat. Saiko could practically hear the gears turning in her head. And then, all of a sudden, it was like a light switched on inside and she slammed the table, [E GADD!]  
  
“...Bless you.”  
  
“No, it’s a scientist we know!” Tari corrected, “He’s got some screws loose...to put it lightly. But he can make anything for us! He made Meggy an ink-surfing board! If I give him my arm, he should be able to make Meggy new legs!”  
  
“Fantastic!” Traveller exclaimed, “Better give him a call...” he trailed off. He stared down at the reinforced leather holster on his hip. The handle of some sort of blade was jutting out of it, usually hidden by his jacket. He sighed harshly, “Fine you’re in this story,” he said to nothing in particular, before digging the blade out; it was jagged and ceremonial in nature. A black, obsidian blade with red, lava-like cracks running across it, its hilt a rocky steel with gems embedded within it. They were lucky this place was nearly empty at this time, such a reckless action. But then he...put the blade to his ear, the hilt acting as a sort of mouthpiece. He nodded, then looked at the blade. A holographic numberpad appeared on the blade, “Do you girls know his phone number?”  
  
The other two stared, incredulous, at the sight. This man had the audacity to take out a large knife...and use it as a telephone. And to their further shock, the glowing cracks on its blade pulsated as the blade began to...talk, in a gruff but jovial voice, “ _...Yes this man’s talking, possessed ancient cult blade can be used as a phone, what of it?_ ”  
  
Tari whimpered under her breath, “Now it’s our time to be eternally confused...”  
  
The blade sounded offended, “ _What?! I got us a great deal on our phone plan. Infinite calls, infinite texts, across time and space. AND if we use this feature enough, HE gets a free coupon for that Shakeporium down in the No-Zone._ ”  
  
Traveller nodded shakily in agreement, “Their Red Velvet shakes are the best, man. Anyway. Calling E.Gadd...”  
  
===  
  
[What do you mean you can’t for it for free?!] Saiko demanded as they burst out of the coffee shop.  
  
“Well, sorry girls!” came E.Gadd’s voice. On his end, he was working on...something sinister, even he had no idea what it was. There was a spark and a yelp, but he was back on the line within seconds, “But you used up the IOU on that ink board. Textureless clones and beeg versions of your boss don’t appear from thin air, you know. My experiments require funding! Or at the very least...material.”  
  
“Material?” Traveller spoke into the bladephone, “So what, you’ll do it if we get you some good metal?”  
  
“AND a sort of generator so I don’t tap into my own supply. Then it’d be COMPLETELY free on my end and we can call it even. I think. But any old scrap metal won’t do. It needs to be premium stuff!”  
  
“Like?” Traveller asked, grumbling.  
  
“Hmm...ever heard of Sardinium? Those Inklings started using it in their stronger weapons just before Splatfest. Gather some of that and...hmm, one of their Zapfishes. That should cover it.”  
  
“So...” Tari slowly put the pieces together, and she didn’t quite like the total puzzle, “Like, just take it-”  
  
[By force,] Saiko’s grin grew into some psychotic smirk that even Traveller found unnerving, [I like how you think, Egghead.]  
  
“Well, from what I hear they did to your beanie friend, they probably have it coming, heh heh,” E.Gadd’s signature chuckle rang through the receiver, “I’ll hear from you again, I presume?”  
  
“Oh you bet...” Traveller assumed his own psychosmirk and pocketed the blade, “Well, looks like we’re getting a little...revenge, girls.”  
  
“Do we have to?” Tari asked fearfully.  
  
[Yep...] Saiko crackled her knuckles in anticipation, [And I know just the guy we need to help get to all that good metal,] she arched her torso forward and stretched out her arm, her hand balled into a fist, [Give me a sec...wait for it...]  
  
Before Traveller could ask what the Hell she was doing, a red and blue streak came literally screaming around the corner. It was the Plumber, and he was exclaiming...something in joy, “WEE HEEEEEEEE!” he certainly saw Saiko’s arm, but had no time to stop. He slammed into her arm, knocking him off his feet. His crumpled body ragdolled to the floor, and he was not happy about the encounter, “OOF! Mama F*UCKER!”  
  
Traveller tilted his head quizzically, “The plumber?”  
  
[You’ll see,] Saiko said as the plumber dragged himself to his feet. She cleared her throat and put on an extremely fake polite face and excited tone, [Hey...uh, Red, I think? We doin’ a little shopping for Meggy. Some metal and some inkshed. You in?]  
  
“Sorry, girls,” Mario said, running frantically in place, “Mario’s a-in a little trouble, here! Mario need-a that last-a plate of Festive Spaghetti! IT’S-A MINE!” with that, he began to run off towards town.  
  
[Aww come on Red,] Saiko continued with her awkward sincerity, [You’ll be doing a good deed for Meeeeeeggyyyyyyyy,] Mario suddenly stopped. Saiko smirked, [Heh, gottem. And you’ll get to kick some Inkling ass~]  
  
Suddenly, to Traveller’s horror, Mario’s head turned 180 degrees to look at the group, his face twisted into a grotesque, extended triangle smile, “Oh boy! Mario’s-a always down to kick some juicy ass!”  
  
Traveller was about to object again, but Saiko cut him off, [JUST...go with it,] she cracked her knuckles a second time and turned to the group, [Alright team! Let’s go cheer up our friend the best way we know how.]  
  
===  
  
Hours passed. The dark evening turned to darker night. The gentle snow turned to harsh rain, and then thunderstorms. That rain pattered against the Meggy’s bedroom window, as the girl tried desperately to get some sleep. But time after time, horrific memories flooded back, about how this year had NOT been kind to her; Francis, Splatfest drama, SMG3 erasing her from history, the textureless clones, the Mario Mask...and then, Shades with his roaring chainsaw, wreathed in flames. One after the other, over and over again. She whimpered, pleaded to whatever deity may be listening to just make them all go away. To make this panic attack stop. She tussled this way and that, twisting violently in her bed. Until, suddenly, she fell with a scream and hit the wooden floor. The remains of her legs waved about frantically as the memories only got worse and worse, louder and louder. Her breath was shallow as she reached in to curl into a ball.  
  
“I can’t...I can’t...” she wheezed, “Someone help...I can’t....I can’t breathe! I can’t...”  
  
“Yes you can...” came a voice. A smooth, comforting...familiar voice. Meggy felt a cold chill spread onto her back, slowly rubbing in vague circles. The voice continued, breathing in slowly, “In...out. Like that. Come on, in...” they repeated the large intake of breath. A shivering Meggy did the same, “Out...” they exhaled. and so did Meggy. as she did so, it felt like the memories were slowly receding into the dark. Her heartbeat slowed, her breath returned, and she slowly uncurled from her ball. The voice seemed satisfied, “There we go.”  
  
Meggy sat up. She looked at the ghostly figure in front of her. She was transparent, leaning on the bookshelf, staring at the floored girl. It was an Octoling. One of the old Elites, not those new Metro Dwellers, magenta colours, a blue hoodie and boots. Meggy couldn’t believe her eyes, “...D...Desti?! I thought you told me to forget about you! After Splatfest...”  
  
“Well yeah, that was the plan...” Desti said, her face somewhat morose, “Until that sore loser cut your legs off. You think I’m just gonna sit by and watch you suffer? Of course not. Like I said, I like to keep things...well, not professional, but there are lines I won’t cross. Not like those Killer Inks.”  
  
“You saw ‘em, huh?”  
  
“I couldn’t take my eyes off ‘em!” Desti said, trying to keep her cool, and doing a poor job of it. She walked around the room, “Honestly. People called ME a jerk. Man...” she sighed, brushing her tentacles back and walking over to Meggy and sitting with her, “Pay ‘em no mind, Meggs. After all, insulting you was MY job! Heh heh...”  
  
Meggy couldn’t shake her sorrowful expression, “W...What’re you doing here?”  
  
“Little encouragement,” Desti tilted her head with a more caring expression. She brushed back some of Meggy’s frizzled hair, “I mean, you seem to be a little down. For obvious reasons.”  
  
Meggy looked down at her stumps. They were still wrapped in bandages, still had some burnt tissue from...whatever Shroomy did with that iron. She felt sick simply recalling the events, “I never...it’s one of those things you never think would happen to you...”  
  
“Like death, eh?” Desti pointed to herself, specifically that place on her chest where she was stabbed, “Still hurts some days. But, this ain’t about me. You’re stronger than you think you are, Meggs. You said yourself, you survived dang near everything this year has thrown at you. You can do this. Ain’t nothin’ gonna stop you now!”  
  
Meggy wasn’t so sure. She remembered when she had tried to pull herself back into her wheelchair. She had used all her strength to try. But she failed. She failed in front of her friends, and the guy who saved her life. She...FAILED. And that always sent her reeling. She looked at Desti like she had been sick on the carpet, “But...I fell.”  
  
“So? Get back up and do it again!” Desti tried to thump Meggy on the arm. ‘Tried’ being the operative word, as her incorporeal arm went straight through. She sighed, “The Meggy I knew wouldn’t’ just give up at losing that first battle in Splatfest...even if they did cheat. The Meggy I knew wouldn’t let those Killer Inkos steamroll her from beyond the grave. The Meggy I know would get. Back. Up.”  
  
Meggy thought long and hard. Those sorts of words felt to meaningless coming out of that weird scarfed guy’s mouth. Hell, it felt weird coming out of her own. But out of Desti...well, she could never let Desti down. Not after all the rigmarole she went through to win Splatfest! Even if it led to...  
  
No. Desti was right. She couldn’t let those Killer Sinks get one over her. She couldn’t let them win. She looked up to Desti, a new determination blazing behind her eyes, “...I got this!”  
  
Grabbing the edge of the bed, Meggy groaned with effort as she began to climb up onto it. She was grimacing all the while, her noodle arms shivering with the strain. She wasn’t used to this. But she was going to do it, damn it! Desti cheered on, “Come on Meggs! Come on! Work those noodle human arms! COME ON!” spurred on by her words, Meggy continued. She almost lost her grip and her strength and fell, but she grabbed another, more solid part of the bed, resuming the climb. She got one stump up past the mattress onto the bed itself. Desti’s cheers became more intense, “Almost there...almost there...” and with a final grunt, Meggy pulled herself up onto the bed and rolled into the middle. Desti exploded, arms threw into the air, “YES!”  
  
Meggy laughed in victory, a new form of sheer joy dwelling within her, “I DID IT!”  
  
“YOU did it,” Desti repeated, chuckling, “That’s my sorta-rival! I bet Shades is spinnin’ in his grave right about now! Wait, hang on...” she suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. Meggy was confused for a few seconds, before she popped back into reality. She chuckled, “Yep, you REALLY ticked him off! Gives him another thing to scream about down there.”  
  
“...Down there? He’s in Hell?”  
  
“Where else would I send him, heh heh,” Desti grinned slyly, “Never mind that, tho. You did it, Meggy!”  
  
Meggy sat up and faux-humbly scratched the back of her head, “Aaah I just got into bed...”  
  
“So? That’s just the first step. It’s all up from here! You can get by without your leggys, Meggy!” Desti quickly chuckled at her own dark joke, “Heh, Leggy.”  
  
“Stop it...” Meggy warned sternly, to which she was met with a raspberry. She sighed, her energy drained, and she flopped back onto the bed “So...now what?”  
  
“You’re exhausted, Meggs. I get that,” Desti sighed, getting close to Meggy and trying to place her under the covers. Meggy got the message and squirmed under herself. Desti smiled warmly, “Go back to bed and get some rest. Maybe something cool will come for you in the morning. You’ve got good friends, Meggs. I guess I sorta...underestimated ‘em. Even that dumbass plumber’s okay...just, okay.”  
  
Meggy felt more tears flow into her eyes, only this time they were ones of joy. She arched up and hugged the ghost...and she knew from experience she felt that one. Meggy snuggled into the embrace, “...Thank you, Desti.”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Desti said cooly, slowly lowering Meggy back into bed, “Now get some sleep, Meggs. You know I’m always watchin’ over you...”  
  
And with a final russle of the beanie girl’s hair, Desti vanished back into whatever afterlife she had come from. A content, smiling Meggy shuffled further into the covers and drifted off into a wonderful, heavy sleep stuffed to the brim with dreams.  
  
===  
  
Meanwhile, across town, E.Gadd’s laboratory was still bustling with some form of life. The lab was darkly lit, with only the dim glow of computer monitors lining the walls giving a soft blue glow to the inteterior. There was no sign of E.Gadd himself, bar some rustling and crashing noises in the roof, sending dust to settle onto piles of his old inventions. Only beeps and bloops from the computers rang throughout the room for a while, but it would soon be overtaken by a hiss as the heavy main doors finally opened.  
  
In the doorway were the group from before; Tari, Saiko, Mario and Traveller. All four of them were slathered head to toe in spilled ink of multiple colours, and surrounded by tons of Inkling weapons scattered across the floor. Mainly rollers and splatters, the odd charger here and there. Tari looked horrified, Saiko looked shocked, Mario was happy and Traveller...well, he sure had some sort of expression. The group stood there for a few seconds more, taking in what they had just done.  
  
[...Wow!] Saiko exclaimed like a kid on Christmas day, [That was the most badass thing I’ve ever done!]  
  
“Well, you certainly weren’t a pushover!” Traveller chuckled, an impressed tone to his voice, “I saw you spike that Inko like he was a tent peg! Where’d you get THAT strength?!”  
  
“That...wasn’t fun,” Tari sobbed, before sniffing and regaining he composure, “But it WAS necessary. Yes.”  
  
“Oh boy!” Mario crowed, that distended smile still plastered on his face, “Mario’s pingas feels-a funny!”  
  
An awkward pause followed this outburst, and the others looked warily at Mario. Saiko grumbled out a reply, [...Thanks for ruining the mood, Plumber.]  
  
“Whatever. E.Gadd?!” Traveller called out amongst the complex, looking up towards the ceiling, “Where are you?”  
  
To respond, came a violent crash. More dust and debris rained from the rafters, along with a clattering of steel and plastic. Above it all, a scream of “INCOMING!!!” came barrelling through the complex. E.Gadd, a screaming white blur, slammed into the floor at mach speed with a violent smashing sound. He looked injured, but not lethally. He slowly got to his feet, supporting his back, “Oooh, that smarts. Excuse me, I was just...readjusting my TV areal. Yes.”  
  
Tari stepped forward, placing a Foil Flingza Roller and a still squirming Zapfish onto the floor in front of the professor. She then twisted her arm and removed it, also handing it to him, “Well, we got your material sir...”  
  
“Excellent!” E.Gadd exclaimed, adjusting his glasses and moving to gather up the weapons further into his workshop. He turned to the group, “Now, I will just need a few hours to make the legs. And, uh, patch myself up. I suggest you all go home and sleep. I’ll see you in the morning!”  
  
“Many thanks, scientist fellow...” Traveller saluted, before the group turned to walk out of the lab. Traveller stopped, turning to look at the strange little man as he patched himself up, then continued walking away, “God you look familiar.”  
  
[Well, time to get some shuteye.] Saiko yawned, stretching to the heavens, [You got a place to stay, spiky?]  
  
“You can-a stay with Mario!” Mario suggested, though he ignored Traveller’s face scrunch up in pure, refined “Plz No”.  
  
The hedgehog shrugged, “Eh, I’m sure your princess won’t mind if I find a room in her place..."


	4. Walking in the Clouds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DeviantART Link - https://www.deviantart.com/masterperrymartin/art/A-Leg-to-Stand-on-Part-4-Christmas-2020-865088190

“Hmm. Dreaming again,” Traveller sighed. He always had the most vivid dreams. Always. Seemed to be because of...well, exactly what he was, he supposed. Warmongers had vivid dreams. Well...they did now. He remembered, he was dreaming of one of his past adventures. Messing around in what they called “Argatha”. Meeting with that Doctor Monty fellow...and planting two bullets in his smug face before he left. Hell, SOMEONE had to do it, right? Certainly wasn’t gonna be Primis.

The void was almost home to him now. Dark, swirling purple voids. Whispers in the air, streams of energy circling above him. The ground beneath a mass of purple cubes that shifted and shivered beneath his heavy work boots. The wind was chilly, though he barely felt it in his heavy winter clothing...never mind wind in a void not making sense. But then, this was a dream, so it probably didn’t matter.

He batted aside a floating purple cube. One of many, all part of what that fat scientist had once called Null Space. It was more than that, of course. Many dark things hid in this void. And sometimes, less dark things. Like the chirpy voice spilling out across the cubes; “Yoo hoo!”

Traveller turned his gaze to look at the source of the voice. It was another brown-furred Mobian Hedgehog, just like him. Same height, same proportions, same skin tone. His quills were styled differently, jutting out at much straighter and sharper angles, and his left ear was embellished with a single silver earring. His eyes carried not the black and red corruption of Traveller’s; they were pure, iris purple in colour. He wore a black t-shirt, blue and red boots and a large blue trenchcoat that covered the rest of his body, alongside black fingerless gloves. He wore glasses, a nice red ascot tied around his neck and a scabbard slung across his back. In that scabbard, a sword, technological in style and bristling with energies.

Traveller looked shocked, but almost relieved, “...Markus?”

“Traveller!” his counterpart waved jovially, bounding over and stopping with a comedic skid in front of him, “How’s things?”

Traveller continued with his shocked stare, before it slowly morphed into a quizzical one, “...Why am I dreaming of you?”

Markus shrugged, “Dunno. I guess we’re the same guy, different timelines, our minds kinda...linked.”

“Hmm...” Traveller sighed and scratched his head. He’d seen a lot of weird stuff over the past 24 hours and frankly he’d run out of shock and confusion to give out. So he merely shrugged and nodded, “Sure, let’s go with that. How’s the missus?”

“Azima?” Markus asked in response, to which Traveller nodded. He lit up and started talking excitedly, “Oh, she’s doing well. We got a REAL good step up against the Black Arms, so she’s in a good mood. How’s you?” he got close with a teasing expression on his face, “I hear you involved with some gal!”

“Not like THAT...” Traveller growled, shoving him away with his off-hand. He sighed gravely, turning away from the alternate and then twisting his gaze towards him, “Her name is Meggy. Some lunatic Inkling sawed her legs off. Thought I’d stick around, help her adjust. Then I sort of...raided the Inkling city to get some new legs made for her.”

“Oh yeah, Surgeon told me!” Markus said, hand placed to his head in thought. Traveller smirked, Markus was always one for more jovial theatrics. Well, compared to his brooding at least, “Said he’s quite happy with how you handled the situation, even if it was a little...violent. Said he’s gonna have a talk with the No-Zone, maybe use it as evidence to get them off your back for a while.”

“That’d be nice,” Traveller shrugged, turning to face him again. He chuckled as a dark but amusing thought crossed his mind, “Besides, it’s Christmas. Sonic’s probably making a mess they have to clean up, fighting some evil bugger, ain’t he?”

The two alternates laughed like old friends, or rather chuckled in Traveller’s case. The got close and gave each other a fist-bump, still laughing all the while. Markus wiped a laughter-induced tear from his eye, “Y’know, I’m proud of you too, man! When we first met you were still hurting from that other Warmonger, no? That squid? And now you’ve calmed down, you’re helping people. A true hero!”

“Bah,” Traveller sighed, dismissing the notion with a weary wave from his hand. He looked out amongst the void, “You’re the hero me, I’m just some old washed up artefact. The first of something that never should’ve spiralled out of control.”

“Then maybe with the No-Zone you can start doing some good again. Perhaps, fight them directly?” Markus suggested innocently. Traveller continued to look into the void, as the image of a sea of glowing-eyed lunatics flashed in his mind. Markus sighed sadly, walking over to Traveller and placing a hand on his shoulder, “Look, just because you renounced the name, doesn’t make you less of a Markus like me. I know it’s been a year or so since you went off the map, but when you’re back for good, we’re all gonna root for you. Me included! When I get time off from...the apocalypse and all.”

Traveller looked at his alternate for a while, mulling over things. It would certainly be nice to stop running for once. Away from the No-Zone. Away from other lunatics. Away from his past. He smiled under the scarf, placing a hand on his shoulder, “...Thanks Markus.”

“Don’t mention it,” Markus broke from the touch, ”Looks like you’re waking up now. Give my condolences to the dragon girl!”

As as the void faded around him, Traveller watched his alternate take his sword from his scabbard, inspect it and walk off. There he went, Traveller thought. A true, bona fide heroic type. The kind of man, perhaps, he should have been...

===

“Um...excuse me? WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!”

Traveller screamed as the real world flooded back in a blinding flash, “THURSDAY!” and he rolled to the side of his makeshift bed before he was able to calm. He sighed, looking up and around at where he was. Some kind of special room, of some sort. Large, wide, chequerboard floors and a giant clock at the back of the room. In the middle, a gigantic table lined with a white tablecloth and fancy plates and cutlery. Or, at least it was until he had scrambled himself awake. Now the cloth was disturbed, and a few of those fancy pieces were on the floor. Traveller grumbled, taking the leftover quill buried in the wood out with a grunt, before he stared at the mass of pink dress and blond hair in front of him, “Oh, you’re Peach, right?”

“WHAT,” the irate princess spat back out, “Are you doing, sleeping on my banquet table?!”

“I find odd places to sleep, what of it?” Traveller groaned, wiping the sleep from his eyes. He took his scarf and began the process of wrapping it around his scarred muzzle and his chest as he hoppe off the table and continued speaking, “Just had to find a place to sleep for the night, should be out of your hair in a bit. When’s breakfast, by the way...?” he stopped and turned, expecting at least a reaction. He didn’t expect Peach to...well, he didn’t expect her to do THAT, “...Oh shit.”

Next thing he knew, he was smashing through the castle’s roof and soaring through the sky, screaming all the while. He tumbled mercilessly through the air for a good few seconds, watching the last of the explosion from within the castle settle, before he landed with a crash in the courtyard. It felt like every single bone in his body was...well not BROKEN but certainly fractured. He groaned, slowly dragging himself to his feet. He looked up through blurry vision; Saiko and Tari were walking down the path towards him. Tari looked worried, Saiko...less so.

[Hey there,] she grinned as Tari set about making sure Traveller was okay, [You get on Her Highness’ bad side?]

“I always seem to with royalty...” Traveller sighed wearily, “So, we good?”

Tari broke from inspecting him - he seemed okay - to speak, “E.Gadd’s finished the legs! We’re just gonna go check on Meggy now.”

“Nice...” Traveller chuckled as the three set back down the path, “Let’s get going then! As long as I can stop off, get some breakfast...and some bandages.”

===

  
Morning dawned in the Spletzer household. The warm orange glow of the sun broke through the curtains and shone in Meggy’s face. She groaned as she wiped the sleep from her eyes, then yawned and stretched her arms, getting into a sitting position.

“Man...that was a good sleep,” she sighed, before she looked down, “Oh...” as much as she had wished it was all just a dream, it wasn’t. Her legs still ended at the thighs, and her bedroom was still a mess from last night. A single tear dropped down her face, but she sniffed and brushed it aside, ”Never mind. Like Desti said. Just keep getting up...keep getting up...”

She lay back down on her bed and took her phone from the bedside table; it was fully charged, so she took the cable out and began to do as she did every lazy morning; check the time and surf the web for a bit. It was the 23rd now, 9:54AM. She lazily scrolled through her Splatnet for a while; she still had her account, and being the winner of Splatfest had got her a fair share of fans...and some haters, but the former combatted the latter mercilessly. A lot of people excited for the holidays, of course. Some still angry that Meggy even existed. One even demanded more recolours of Red. But after the week she had, such comments felt so...small, and meaningless. Meggy smiled as her phone began to ring; she answered.

“Hi Meggy!” Tari’s voice came through the speaker, excited and cheerful, “Merry...almost Christmas! We’ve got a gift for you, if you’d like us to come in.”

“...Uh, sure! You...might have to come get me,” Meggy chuckled somewhat. She sat up and waited for Tari to knock on her door and come into her room; they shared a quick hug before Tari helped her into the wheelchair and helped her downstairs. Meggy saw a grand group of people standing around in the main room; Saiko, Traveller, Professor E.Gadd and a whole bunch of boxes. Meggy looked confused, “So what’s all this about? What’s in those boxes?”

[Let’s say we had an idea of sorts...] Saiko grinned warmly. It looked...weird, coming from her, but Meggy appreciated the effort, [Best thing would could think of to help you.]

“Help me?” Meggy asked, before some idea dawned on her, “Like...what?”

Traveller opened the first crate, and out came...two legs. Two mechanical legs, made of the same polished steel and blinking lights as Tari’s robotic arm. They were as long as her old legs, strengthened with supports and attached via straps. Traveller pulled down his scarf so his muzzle was visible, and he too warmly smiled, “Merry Christmas, Meggy Spletzer.”

“N-No way...”

“Here, I will help apply them!” E.Gadd beamed, taking the robotic legs to Meggy and attaching them to her thighs. He placed a headband with a bunch of technology on her head, then fiddled with the legs and kept talking, “Now, I have left careful instructions on how to handle them. They are prototypes, after all. You will need to break them in first, your brain will struggle at first to comprehend the controls. Uh, they’ll need charging every night and the battery lasts for eight hours, less if used a lot. They need cleaning every three to five days and oiling every-”

“E.Gadd?” Traveller cut him off quickly with a swipe of the hand across his scarfed neck, “KIND OF not the time?”

“Right, right, sorry,” E.Gadd adjusted his glasses, and then cleared his throat, “Go on, Spletzer. See how they work for you.”

[Even better?] Saiko joined in, with a wrapped present in her arms. She placed it in front of Meggy and assisted her in unwrapping it, [Saw you had an eye on these puppies...]

Meggy gasped. It was those boots she wanted. A darker shade. Black soles and laces, a pattern running down the sides. She slipped them on over her robotic legs - they fit perfectly. She concentrated for a little while, feeling the robotic joints move and whirr and calibrate as she imagined moving them. And then, slowly, with a grunt of effort...she stood up. The legs held, she was actually standing once again.

“Oh my God...” Meggy was overwhelmed with emotion, standing there shivering as tears formed in her eyes, “Oh my God...” she inched forward, slowly, before she hugged Saiko and Tari tightly and cried joyfully into their embrace, “Guys! GUYS! Guys...”

[You’re welcome, kiddo,] Saiko grinned, patting the beanie girl on the back, [Go on, let it all out.]

“Come on, Traveller!” Tari cried out, reaching out to grab Traveller by his scarf, “You too!”

“Huh? Woah!” Traveller yelped as he was brought into the hug. He was shocked for a few seconds - this is simply wasn’t something he was used to - but he returned the favor anyway. He just about managed to wrap his arms around the other three, leading to a good few seconds of cuddling.

Meggy sniffled into Saiko’s jacket, “Thank you...thank you...”

“No problem,” Traveller said warmly, “You deserve no less.”

“...Oooh!” Tari jumped, “Idea! About how we can reveal this to SMG4.”

Saiko looked on, [Go on...?] 


	5. Christmas Miracle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DeviantART Link - https://www.deviantart.com/masterperrymartin/art/A-Leg-to-Stand-on-Part-5-Christmas-2020-865120860

“Ahh, finally, some peace and quiet. Mario stop eating the serving dish.”  
  
“Aww...”  
  
SMG4 looked across his table, and he smiled. It was in Peach’s castle, in the clock tower room. A room where Peach had noted that an...altercation had occurred early that morning. But she was able to get everything in order before Christmas dinner. People had already opened their presents, exchanged their gifts and now took their seats at the table. It was lined with an extravagant dinner on serving platters; turkey, potatoes, mixed vegetables, gravy, a side of beef, crackling and a selection of nibbles and side dishes, all surrounded by glasses of fine wine (or juice for those too young for such tipple).  
  
SMG4 took seat at the head of the table while Mario and Luigi sat closet to him, followed by Tari, Saiko, Bob, Fishy Boopkins and Axol. On the other side sat the so-called Snitchy Squad; a sort of cabal of evil counterparts constructed by his old rival, SMG3. Now they were friends, and sitting at the table; Jub-Jub sat opposite his brother, Belle and Whimpu were closest to Tari and Saiko, Rob was eyeing the corn platter with wild eyes, and Shroomy sat with the Squad; no-one had quite forgiven him for his role in SMG3’s near victory, though he took it in stride.  
  
SMG4 raised his glass and cleared his throat, “Well, as the head of the table, I’d love to thank everyone for a...stressful, but wonderful year. Full of laughs, full of adventures, full of memes. Full of...uh, textureless zombies and evil masks. And ruining Human-Inkling relations. And almost getting wiped from reality due to the machinations of my bitter evil counterpart. And...Mario.”  
  
“I said-a sorry!” Mario barked ashamedly.  
  
Saiko slammed on the table, almost spilling her double helping of Vintage Caramelldansen (2001, a good year), [Sorry doesn’t remove the fact we almost got snapped, plumber boy!”  
  
“Saiko,” SMG4 said calmly, “Settle down. But yes, there have been a lot of hardships. Some things some of us have yet to fully recover from. Apologies, Axol...” Axol, still scarred and dirty, gave a supportive thumbs up anyway. SMG4 then turned, confused, to the sleeping Melony splayed across her spot at the table, face resting on her plate, “And...still not sure how THAT happened. Huh...this year’s been kinda crazy, hasn’t it?”  
  
“Come on guys!” Tari sighed, looking out amongst the large crowd, a smile on her face, “There’s lots of great stuff that happened to us this year! We made all these brand new friends, like Belle...”  
  
“Hey, I’m not your friend!” Belle scoffed, looking away and blushing, “Well, a little bit. Tiny bit...a bit.”  
  
Tari just giggled, “We also saw Mario and Bowser get back to their cooking show. I got a lot of brand new games, and that show deal I signed on is going along great! Steve’s back in the crew! Bob is...better?”  
  
“DaMn StRaIgHt. ThIs SeXy BiTcH iS dOiNg FiNe.”  
  
“And how could we forget the year Meggy’s had? She won Splatfest! She avenged Desti! She got a brand new voice!”  
  
Belle balked at Tari’s words, arching closer after a bite of turkey, “She also got kicked around like a beachball in low tide, was subject to prejudice from an entire city, got kidnapped by her own clone, turned into a copy of Mario, was almost erased from history, had her house destroyed by Shroomy WHO HASN’T APOLOGISED...” she rudely shouted to Shroomy, who looked down sadly into his soup, “And had both her legs sawn off. Some year.”  
  
Tari started to argue, but then she...stopped. Granted, she wasn’t even there for some of them, she just heard them off-hand...but she got the impression that was the case. It was Luigi, of all people, who spoke up; “She’s...got a point, Tari.”  
  
“Well, that’s why we’re here,” SMG4 continued, “As she continues to receive physical therapy, she sadly cannot join us this year. So, this dinner is dedicated to her. A toast, to Meggy Spletzer!”  
  
“Aww, guys. Starting without me? Rude...”  
  
SMG4 stopped. Everyone did. They all turned and looked at the doorway that had just opened. Within the doorframe, it was Meggy! Standing, all on her own. She was wearing a stunning red dress that reached her knees, her hair done up into a long ponytail that reached down her back. But the most unusual feature was a pair of robotic, prosthetic legs attached to her thighs that kept her upright, finished with some red heels at the fake feet.  
  
SMG4’s expression dropped, “...MEGGY?!”  
  
Saiko chuckled, [Heh, priceless reaction.]  
  
“Where the heck did you get those?!”  
  
“E.Gadd made ‘em!” Meggy boasted. She quickly slipped her heels off and took a speedy, bounding romp around the room, joyfully showing off her new mobility by jumping high and gracefully, “Look at me go! Woo hoo!”  
  
“Psh, Mario can-a beat that!” Mario boasted, getting out of his chair, “Let’s-a go!” he jumped once, then a second time, and then with a yell bounded incredibly high! Right into the roof. He slammed against it and tumbled back down to crash upon the ground. A few seconds passed in shocked silence before, “...Ooow...”  
  
“He’ll be fine,” SMG4 dismissed the incident, and turned to Meggy as she put her heels back on, “Meggy, this is amazing!”  
  
“I know, right?” Meggy beamed with joy, another tear in her eye, “I can walk again...but, I couldn’t if it wasn’t for Tari, Saiko...and him.”  
  
On cue, the him in question stepped into the room. It was Traveller, but his clothing was very...different. Gone was the shabby blue jacket and red scarf, now replaced with a black tuxedo with red bowtie and dress shoes and white gloves. His quills were slicked back, his face was cleaned up, his scarred mouth tastefully hidden with concealer. He looked out amongst the crowd, feeling quite silly.  
  
Belle piped up again, “...Who IS he?”  
  
“This is Traveller,” Meggy introduced him with a flair, “Remember? Guy who helped save my life?” a string of relaxed murmurs came from one side of the table as the memories came back to them. Meggy smiled, “I thought it’d be only right if he joined us for dinner!”  
  
“...Hence the tuxedo?”  
  
“Well I had to get my old clothes stitched back together after your highness was done with me...” Traveller shrugged, pawing at his suit jacket, “Not exactly a good look for a fancy dinner party and all.”  
  
SMG4 shrugged, “Eh, whatever. Good company’s always welcome at this table!”  
  
“Many thanks,” Traveller said humbly. The two took their seats, Meggy next to Mario and Traveller sitting at the other head of the table. He took a spare wine glass and helped himself to some wine. He visibly smiled, “So, how about we do that toast now?”  
  
“Oh, right!” SMG4 raised his glass, “To Meggy!”  
  
As did everyone else, “TO MEGGY!”  
  
Meggy blushed happily, “Heh. Merry Christmas to you all too...”  
  
===  
  
Traveller didn’t remember that much of the night. How long it went on for. It certainly was jolly, however. Festive. Full of food and music and dancing and...drunken fights. Par for the course for Traveller, though he had to admit it was still better than the last few Christmas parties he’d been to. But it was all over now. It was nearing midnight. Soon enough the time would tick over and it’d be Boxing Day. The festivities...gone. Everyone had collected their leftovers and said their thanks and headed on home to sleep peacefully through the morning. Traveller excused himself and walked outside the castle. The moon shone brilliantly that night, casting its rays down on the weary wanderer, and casting the courtyard in a beautiful shade of blue. He sighed, watching as his breath condensed in the cold air, listening to the peaceful nothings around him.  
  
He sighed, bringing out the Blade from his hidden holster, “Well that was nice, wasn’t it Blade?”  
  
The Blade responded with a hearty chuckle, “ _I enjoyed the entertainment, that’s for sure. Those guys fight a hell of a lot for friends...heh, good fighters. You see that bit where that psycho chick smashed that pumpkin thing through the table? MAN, that was satisfying._ ”  
  
“Hmm. Glad to see you’re having fun...”  
  
Blade sounded confused, “ _Why? Something eatin’ you, kid? Or that just heartburn?_ ”  
  
Traveller stared into the sky, “What’s the phrase? Every time I get out, they pull me back in? Even when I enter this world for a little bit, just for some peace and quiet, I almost bisect an Inkling with a chainsaw. Then put two rounds in his face.”  
  
“ _So? He deserved it._ ”  
  
“That’s not the point. Will we ever escape violence, you think?”  
  
“ _...You are quite literally carrying around a weapon made for war, with the soul of a culture’s war god in it,_ ” Blade would almost certainly be giving Traveller the stink-eye, if his blade form had eyes of some description, “ _Or, did you forget?_ ”  
  
“I know, I know...” Traveller sighed, continuing to stare out among the abyss lit up by the moon, “It’s just, he’s out there. That corrupted me. The REAL me. Not who I am now...” he stared down at his hand. He knew what was really going on. Who he really was. There was a yelp as someone touched his shoulder, and he spun around, “Oh! Oh, hey Meggy.”  
  
Meggy was indeed standing before him, her makeup smudged and her dress dishevelled. But she remained cheerful, “Hi Traveller. How’s things?”  
  
“Just heading out,” Traveller scratched the back of his head, discarding the quill he scratched loose over his shoulder, “Party’s over, and all. Time for me to move on. I don’t belong here. Hell, I don’t belong ANYWHERE.”  
  
“I...I understand,” Meggy sighed, almost disappointedly, “If you’re leaving, I just wanna say, thank you...” she flashed a shy smile, “For saving me. For getting me a way to walk again. You’re...a hero.”  
  
“I wish,” Traveller sighed, digging his hands into his pockets, “My past is littered with the awful things I’ve done. The things I created. What Shades became. Warmongers...”  
  
“Oh my,” Meggy gasped at this. Considering it was Shades who caused all this, and he was one of those...things, “Sounds horrible. Would there be a sorta...War me?”  
  
Traveller looked at Meggy, his expression haunted, “I hope not.”  
  
“Well, I can’t say much for who you WERE,” Meggy sighed too, but she took his hands; they were freezing. She looked up at his gaze, “But...if there’s one thing I’ve realised this year, even when we’re at our lowest, we can pull it back. We can redeem ourselves for everything we did. In the name of those we lost and love. Don’t you have anyone you fight for?”  
  
“...I...suppose I did. Her name was Amber.”  
  
“Nice. Mine was Desti,” Meggy beamed, memories of their encounter a few nights before flashing in her head, “And I’m sure they’re both pretty happy now, out there. Somewhere.”  
  
“...Yeah. Yeah...” Traveller sighed yet again, his throat drying in the cold air. He looked around for a while, “Thanks Megs. Say if you’re not ready to say goodbye, you could always travel a few worlds with me. Get some better batteries for those legs. I’ve been meaning to check in with a few old friends. And you get to see the worlds. And how...big it all is.”  
  
“Hmm...” Meggy thought about the suggestion for a while, before a wide and devious smile crossed her lips, “Hey, the night’s still young. Why not? As long as I’m returned home before tomorrow.”  
  
“Oh, of course. Let’s see how our old friends at SH-123 are doing, Blade.”  
  
Traveller extended the Blade, separating it into segments that were connected by a string of wire running across the back and into the handle. The blade bent this way and that, the sounds of an old radio blaring static being blasted back out. The Blade continued to twitch, “ _Tuning into No-Zone frequency #3442..._ ” before it stopped and straightened out, “ _Aah, got something._ ”  
  
The static gave way to a voice. Deep, gruff, the voice of a natural born leader. It sounded vaguely panicked as it spoke, “ _All units, be advised! New Hirozumu square is currently under attack by a revived Time Eater/Chaos hybrid! Seek cover and fight at a distance!_ ”  
  
Then roars, screams, crashes. And then the voice of a teenager, interwoven with speedy wind, “HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO US?!”  
  
Blade retracted into its complete form and the signal slowly vanished. Traveller stared into the empty space for a while, “...Every. Year.”  
  
“ _Sounds like they need our help,_ ” Blade chuckled, “ _How’s that sound, hero?_ ”  
  
“I...heh, alright,” Traveller grinned, digging his scarf out of nowhere and wrapping it around himself. He raised the Blade, and stabbed the air. The Blade hit...something, and a rip in space and time appeared. Meggy looked on with wonder and then excitement as Traveller dragged the Blade down, leaving a large gash in the air, before opening it manually to form a purple portal. He turned to the cyborg, “Ready, Megs?”  
  
“Oh I am SO ready!” Meggy yelled in excitement, “Let’s kick some alien ass!” Traveller took her hand, and the two cheered as they leapt headfirst into a brand new world, “WOOHOO!”  
  
And as the portal vanished, leaving the courtyard silent, two female spirits watched from the castle roof. One, an Octoling in a blue jacket. The other, a blond Mobian Hedgehog in a brown leather longcoat.  
  
And they smiled.  
  
 **==THE END==**


End file.
